Chapter 500: Holding the Star

"Hey, did you all see that?""See what?""The man in the brown clothes! There's definitely something off about him!""You mean... the one the young master brought back just now? Isn't he Miss Su's friend?""Hmph, friend or not, I wouldn't know. All I smell on him is blood, and it's strong. He must have killed someone recently... and more than one."

The night had deepened. In the dim, unlit main hall of the museum, figures flickered within their embroidery frames. A closer look revealed that the characters in numerous embroidered pictures seemed to have come alive, whispering to each other. Fine threads, as if possessing their own life, controlled their lips, opening and closing. Though no sound was emitted, they could sense each other's conversations.

"Kill... killing?!" A vivid piglet in a rural embroidery piece exclaimed in alarm. "Is he an assassin? Did someone come seeking revenge?""What revenge? When did our master ever make enemies?"On a river woven from thread, a fisherman rowing a boat pondered seriously for a moment. "Back at the old museum, the young man named Li next door always wanted to steal us and sell us for money. After the master scolded him, he held a grudge and used a firecracker to blow up the master's shoes that were drying by the door... I've wanted to punch him for a long time.""...Such a minor grudge wouldn't cause him to hire an assassin for revenge, would it?"

"One thing at a time. The old museum was indeed too small, not big enough to display all of us... Many of our younger siblings were stuck at the bottom of boxes, practically suffocating," said a boy under a willow tree in the central embroidery, resting his head. "This place is much better, big and quiet. We can all gather every day, and no one disturbs us.""Yes, the only one we have to watch out for here is the young master... his soccer balls don't have eyes. Last time, he almost kicked me to pieces.""The young master is already in college; how could he still be so childish!""What does college matter? He still blushes like a monkey's rear end when he sees Miss Su, just like when he was a kid.""Don't say that. I think the young master is much better this time. His blushing isn't quite a monkey's rear end; at most, it's... well... an apple?""What's the difference?!"

In the silent main hall of the museum, dozens of embroidered pieces were chatting animatedly: an old man with a hoe by the riverbank, a sparrow perched on a branch, a young maiden draped in light gauze... Their only commonality was the same signature embroidered in the upper right corner of each piece: Xiao Chunping.

Just as they were lost in conversation, an invisible thread of embroidery floated through the void, flashing across all the embroidered pieces in an instant. The figures and animals that had been chattering a second before instantly had their mouths sewn shut by the invisible thread, freezing in place as if they had transformed back into ordinary embroidered pictures.

About four or five seconds later, a figure silently walked through the side corridor, approaching the main hall.

"The feeling of being watched seems to have disappeared..." His brown trench coat swayed gently in the silent museum as Chen Ling walked through the darkness, deep in thought. "Was that just my imagination? It shouldn't be... But why couldn't I find the problem even with 'Zhu Yan's' eyes?"

Audience Expectation: 3

The moment this prompt appeared, Chen Ling's brows instinctively furrowed."No... something is definitely wrong." The increase in audience expectation further solidified Chen Ling's judgment. He stopped in the center of the museum, constantly recalling every detail in his mind."First, rule out Nie Yu. If he were secretly watching me, he should have acted the moment I noticed... There's no need to wait until I'm fully alert without making a move, and he shouldn't have found this place so quickly. Su Zhiwei and Yang Xiao are also impossible. On second thought, the feeling of being watched only appeared after arriving at the museum... Could it be..."Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly, and his gaze swept across the surroundings.

In the deep night, the museum was silent and empty, with only the dazzling array of embroidered pictures hanging on the walls. Chen Ling stood still for a long time, eventually walking through the main hall and exiting the exhibition area through a side door. As he opened a glass door, a scene of man-made rockeries and a stream came into view. This was the museum's resting area; although not as large as Su Zhiwei's home, it was well-equipped, small yet exquisite.

After stepping out of the exhibition area into the outdoor space, Chen Ling, whose body had been tense, finally relaxed slightly."Hmm?" As Chen Ling entered, he saw a figure on a stone bridge a few dozen meters away, looking down at the fragmented reflection of the moonlight in the stream, seemingly lost in thought. It was Su Zhiwei.At the same time, Su Zhiwei turned to look at him and asked, somewhat surprised, "Director Chen, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Chen Ling hesitated for a moment, then decided not to mention the museum's mysteries or his own theories. He shook his head and replied, "Can't sleep. You?""Me neither." Su Zhiwei's gaze returned to the stream, her expression complex. "Their performance... is getting louder.""Strings?""...Yes.""Where exactly are they?""They are everywhere."

Su Zhiwei raised her hand and gently scooped up the fragmented starlight reflecting on the surface of the stream. The starry reflection seemed to come alive, slowly rising from the water and swaying in the air, like a celestial vintage poured into a teacup. She held a pool of starlight in her hands.

This sight stunned Chen Ling. Before he could fully process it, Su Zhiwei gently closed her hands. The starlight flowing in the void began to vibrate at an extremely high frequency, continuously collapsing, compressing, and solidifying in the empty space. Chen Ling could clearly feel a sense of oppression emanating from the sphere. A wind from nothingness began to swirl around Su Zhiwei as its center, making the surrounding leaves rustle.

This mass of starlight, which should have been intangible and nonexistent, was transforming into an unknown form of energy under Su Zhiwei's "direction." Even Chen Ling sensed a dangerous aura from this energy.However, as the starlight condensed into a fist-sized orb, Su Zhiwei suddenly let out a muffled groan, and her hands trembled slightly. The next moment, the condensed starlight disintegrated and collapsed in the air, vanishing into nothingness in the blink of an eye, as if it had never existed. The rustling throughout the garden also ceased abruptly.

Su Zhiwei panted heavily, as if she had just completed strenuous exercise, her face somewhat pale. Chen Ling, having witnessed all of this, remained stunned for a long time before asking in shock, "You... you've already begun to master the power of 'Strings'?"